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Concept #1 - Music As A Language

To begin with, music is like a language. Take this paragraph, for
instance. It's made up of sentences, which are made up of words,
which are groups of letters. The letters are taken from the
alphabet.
Music has an alphabet too, but we call it a scale. Each note is
like a letter. We put notes from the scale together to make
chords (words). Then we put the chords (words) together to
make phrases (musical sentences.) Once you know how to make
phrases sound good, you are well on your way to writing songs.
So chords are your vocabulary. You need to know chords. But
knowing chords alone is not enough. That would be like
speaking words and not being able to make sentences. You need
to know how chords flow from one to another.
 Concept #2 - The Major Scale
There are many scales, but there is one everyone needs to know.
It's called the Major Scale. Almost everyone starts there.
The major scale has a particular sound. You've heard this sound
many times. You've probably sung it too. Have you ever heard
anyone sing "Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do?" That's it. That's
the major scale. That's the alphabet.
Next we simplify. Instead of "Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do,"
we use "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 1." Same sound, just numbers now
instead of names.

Intersection #1
At this point, you might think we should learn a lot about scales,
and someday I hope you can. But for now, we need to stay true
to our purpose... to know the chords we need and how they flow.
So let's move on.
It might surprise you, but it's possible to write a very good song
without knowing a lot about scales. When you play a chord, you
can immediately hum several notes that seem to fit. This process
of playing and singing while searching for a strong melody is
automatic. You "hear" the vocal lines in your head, or you
experiment until you discover something you like. Part of the
fun of writing songs is this searching process.
But while you can get along fine "discovering" the tune, it's a lot
harder to discover chords. It's much easier if you already have a
bunch of them available.

Concept #3 - Roman Numerals

Even though we walked quickly past scales, there is one
important concept to remember. The notes in the scale can be
numbered 1 through 7. That matters.
Next I'd like to introduce a new idea. Each note in the scale can
be considered the starting point, or root, for a chord. In other
words, there is a note we will call 1, and there is a chord, made
up of several notes, which uses note 1 as a starting point. Don't
worry right now where those other notes come from. Just
remember, there is a note called 1, and there is chord based on
note 1.
This chord based on note 1 is called the "one chord," and we use
a roman numeral one (I) when we are referring to this chord. So
if we want to talk about just the note, we will use "1," but if
we're talking about the chord, we write "I." Get it? "1" means
note number one. "I" means the one chord, which is built on
note number 1.
The same holds true for the other notes in the scale.
There is a note "2" and there is a chord "ii."
There is a note "3" and there is a chord "iii."
There is a note "4" and there is a chord "IV."
There is a note "5" and there is a chord "V."
There is a note "6" and there is a chord "vi."
(There is a note "7" also, but the chord built on note 7 is a little trickier to understand,
so we're leaving it out. You may still use note 7 when you sing, and note seven may
appear in other chords, but the chord that uses 7 as a starting point is not needed right
now.)

Did you notice? Some of the roman numerals are capitalized - I,

IV, and V, while others are lower case - ii, iii, and vi. This is
intentional. The capitalized chords have a certain sound, which
some people describe as happy or bright. In music theory we call
them"major chords." The lower case chords have a sound some
people hear as being darker or sad. We call these "minor
chords."

Let's Review
We started with our purpose: to learn about chords and how they
flow. We then discussed how music is like a language, with
stories, sentences, words, and letters, but we call them songs,
phrases, chords, and notes. The notes come from the scale. The
scale is similar to the alphabet.
Although it's very helpful to learn scales, we decided to
postpone this area and jump straight to chords and how they
follow one another. Most beginning songwriters can hum or sing
a melody without knowing a lot about scales. But it's very hard
to write songs when you still don't have an understanding of
chords.
We did however observe one important fact regarding the major
scale: it has seven notes. We numbered the notes one through
seven and then made the further observation that each of these
seven notes can function as a starting point, or root, for a chord.
For instance, the chord built on note 1 is called "I."
Leaving off the chord built on note seven, we were left with six
chords, which we labeled I, ii, iii, IV, V, and vi. The I, IV, and V
chords are "major chords," and the ii, iii. and vi chords are
"minor chords."

Concept #4 - Getting Started

For your first exploration into the world of songwriting, it's
helpful to establish some "rules." These are not rules in the sense
that they cannot be broken; these are suggestions or good ideas.
You'll do better if you follow these "rules" most of the time.
Rule number 1 - Start and end your song with the I chord. This
establishes clearly where you are, and helps both you and the
listener experience a strong beginning and ending.
Rule number 2 - I, IV, and V are the three chords you will use
most often. Many songs have been written with just these 3
chords.
Rule number 3 - Choose a key. We haven't discussed keys yet,
so let's take care of that right here. You already know that a
major scale can be numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Each of these
numbers represents a note. You can sing the scale or play it on
an instrument.
When you sing, you don't always think of the note as having a
name, because your voice can sing high and low and everywhere
in between. It may not matter to you what note it is as long as it
sounds good. But when you play an instrument like the piano
each note has a name and a location on the instrument.
So when you walk up to the piano to play 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 you
have to ask a question first. Where is note 1? The answer is you
may choose whichever note you like to be note 1. But after you
choose note 1, the major scale determines where 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
and 7 are located. You can't just jump around and call them
whatever you want. You only get to choose note 1.
Whichever note you choose to be note 1 is the name of the
"key." So if you choose a D to be note 1, you will be playing in
the key of D. If you choose an A, you will be playing in the key
of A. Get it?
This could get confusing, but fortunately we can simplify things
a lot with the help of a table.

Take a look at the table and answer this question. In the key of
D, can you name the I, IV, and V chords? Sure you can. The I
chord is D, the IV chord is G, and the V chord is A.
So what does that mean? It means you can write a simple song
in the key of D if you know how to play just three chords: D, G,
and A. You will start the song with a D chord because that's the
I chord. You will also end the song with a D chord. Along the
way you will use D's, G's, and A's whenever you like.
And what do these chords look like? Here they are.
The D chord looks like this.

Here's the G chord.

And here's the A chord.

On a guitar, D, G and A look like this.

 Intersection #2
At some point, you will want to learn to play I, IV, and V in
other keys, but for now this is enough to illustrate the principle.
Our next step is to add in the minor chords; ii, iii, and vi. Just
before we head in that direction...

Let's Review
In part two we stated some simple "rules." Start and end your
song with the I chord. Along the way use I, IV, and V. Choose a
key. If you aren't sure which chords are I, IV, and V, look it up
in the table.
We learned that a key has the same name as note 1. So if the key
is D major, note 1 must be D.
We looked at the chords D, G, and A, both on a keyboard and on
a guitar. We recognized the goal of eventually being able to play
I, IV, and V in all twelve of the major keys, but rather than take
the time now to explore all of these, we decided to move on to ii,
iii, and vi.

Concept #5 - ii, iii, and vi

The ii, iii, and vi chords are minor chords built on notes 2, 3, and
6 of the scale. They have a different sound than the three major
chords we have already discussed. This adds many new
possibilities to your music.
First, let's fill in the rest of the table.

Now answer this question. In the key of D, name the three major
chords and the three minor chords.
The answer: the three major chords (I, IV, and V) are D, G, and
A, while the three minor chords (ii, iii, and vi) are E minor, F#
minor, and B minor.
What do the new chords look like?
The Em chord looks like this.

This is the F# minor chord.

And B minor looks like this.

On a guitar, Em, F#m and Bm look like this.

 Concept #6 - The Simple Map
This is where the big question begins to emerge. We now have
six chords available. How do they flow from one to another?
There are two answers. The simple answer is... it doesn't matter
which chord comes next as long as it sounds good. In some
ways, this answer is correct. All six chords come from the same
scale, and they work well enough together to just bounce from
one to the other. But there is a better answer, though it takes
longer to understand.
The better answer goes like this. Chords are flowing through the
song, but they are also flowing into the minds of your listeners.
To the listener, chords have an effect. Some chords feel stable
and strong while others feel like they're leaning or going
somewhere. Some chords create tension, waiting for another
chord to come along and relax the tension. Sometimes a chord is
meant to surprise the listener; sometimes to soothe. And there is
also a kind of guessing game going on. The audience is
wondering what chord comes next. Sometimes they guess right.
Sometimes you throw them a curve.
In general, you want to throw enough curves to keep your
audience guessing, but not so many that they start striking out.
The listeners feel better when they "hear" chords coming, and
guess right... just not all the time. They want to be surprised
some of the time.
What I'm about to show you is a map. The map has one very
simple purpose. It shows you chord sequences that your
audience will tend to "guess in advance." These chord sequences
sound natural, like walking down the stairs, with no sudden
jumps or unexpected turns. A lot of music is created with simple
sequences like these.
 Concept #7 - Using The Simple Map
To use the map, remember two things. First, you may jump
anywhere from I. Second, if a chord appears at more than one
place, there is an "imaginary tunnel" connecting both spots, so
you can move from one to the other. Got it?
With the map you can do exercises like:
1. Write a long "loop," starting with the I chord, Jump from I to
wherever you like. Then work your way back to I by following
the arrows.
2. Write several three or four chord sequences. Start anywhere
on the map. Follow the arrows.
Here are some possible answers.
I - iii - vi - IV - ii - V - I is a "loop."
It starts and ends on I.
IV - V - I is a three chord sequence.
vi - ii - V - I is a four chord sequence.
ii - V - iii - vi is another.
You can find a lot more.

Remember, the Map doesn't write your song for you, but it helps
you find natural, smooth-sounding chord patterns. If you
experiment with these natural-sounding patterns, you will
automatically start using them in your music. When you do,
your audience will relate well to these sections. This is good for
your audience. You want them to "hear" things in advance and
guess right, not all the time, but a good percentage of the time.
Here's your homework. See how many short progressions you
can create. Start anywhere. Then follow the arrows.
 Updated Information - Playable Maps
Just so you know, we now have a program (which runs on Windows PC's) that allows
you to click on a map and hear the chord as well as see it displayed on a virtual
keyboard. This program is especially helpful for music theory students, songwriters
who have never had a chance to take music theory courses, and anyone learning to
play the piano by ear. The program is described at another site called
MusicToolsForPeople.com. If you are interested in exploring lots of chords by
clicking with a mouse, click on the image below.

Let's Review
We began this section discussing the three minor chords. We
call them ii, iii, and vi. These chords come from the same scale
as I, IV, and V. All six chords work well together. We created a
table with the six chords in each major key. Though you may
use any chord in any order if it sounds good, we recognize that
our listeners are part of the process, and they need to hear some
natural-sounding patterns and some surprises. In order to
generate chord sequences that sound smooth and natural, we
introduced a Simple Map. Following the arrows gives us many
short phrases that work well. We ended by assigning a little
homework. Have you done it?

Concept #8 - Keeping Things Interesting

Imagine living in a world where there was only one shade of
red, one shade of green, etc. You would get used to it, but it's far
more interesting to have variations in color.
The same is true for chords in a song. It's much better to have
several ways to play the same chord. We have a number of
options to introduce variety. This is an exciting area to study,
but it can get complex quickly.
I'll introduce you to the various ideas. Read them over, but don't
get lost here.
Warning - If this is the first time you've seen the following concepts, they may seem
confusing at first. Just skim read it then and go on to Part Five. Remember, you can
write strong songs with simple chords too.

(I will illustrate some of the concepts with keyboard chord

diagrams, but there are too many possibilities now for me to
draw them all. At some point you may wish to find a book of
chord diagrams for keyboard or guitar. Some keyboard chord
diagrams have been included in the section called Charts and
Maps.)
Are you ready?

Adding Interest
1. Chord Inversions
2. Slash Chords
3. Chord Variations
4. Seventh Chords
5. Altered Chords
6. Chord Substitutions
7. Secondary Chords

1. Chord Inversions
Suppose you are playing a simple D chord. You look down at
your hand and notice you are playing three notes: a D, an F#,
and an A. You ask -"What would happen if I let go the D note
and replaced it with another D further up the keyboard?" You
would still have a D chord, but it would be a different
arrangement of the three notes.
The idea here is: As long as you are playing a D, an F#, and an
A, regardless of where they are located on the instrument, you
are playing a D chord.
Here is a picture showing the D chord with two inversions.
Do you see how the same three notes are involved? They just
show up in different places.

2. Slash Chords
Until now, every time we showed a D chord, the bass note was
always a D. What would happen if we played the F# or the A
instead? We would still be playing a D chord, but changing the
bass note makes a big difference. It makes such a big difference
that we have a way of indicating when we want the bass note to
be one of those other possibilities. We call them slash chords.
When we want a D chord with D in the bass, we write D. When
we want the F# in the bass, we write D/F#. When we want the A
in the bass, we write D/A.
Did you notice that the middle chord, D/F#, has only two notes in the right hand? This
is intentional. When the "third" of the chord is in the bass, it often sounds best to leave
the "third" out in the right hand. (F# is the "third" of the chord because the D scale
goes D, E, F#...)

3. Chord Variations
There are some very common variations musicians use all the
time to keep chords sounding fresh. Here are a few.
The added second - D2

The suspended chord - Dsus

The major 6 chord - D6

The major 7 chord - DM7

 The major 9 chord - DM9

4. Seventh Chords
Minor chords will often add a 7th to them.
This is E minor 7 - Em7

Here is F# minor 7 - F#m7

This is B minor 7 - Bm7

V chords often have a 7. In the key of D, the V chord is A, so

you would see A7 appearing in the music. Here it is.
The A7 chord
5. Altered Chords
So far, all the changes we've made have added notes that are in
the scale. There are other notes though that are not in the scale.
Switching a note in the chord to a non-scale note gives us an
altered chord.
Two very useful altered chords are the iv chord (notice we
switched from IV to iv... from major to minor), and the iim7b5
(pronounced "two minor seven flat five"). In the key of D the IV
chord is G, so the iv chord is G minor.
G minor - Gm

The iim7b5 is Em7b5. It looks like this.

6. Chord Substitutions
There are a whole group of chords with wild names like nines,
elevens, thirteens, nine sharp fives, nine flat fives, and the list
goes on. These chords have very interesting sounds. A good
player will use these chords when that particular sound is
needed. Often the player "substitutes" one of these complex
chords for a simpler one in the music. Suppose the music calls
for an A7. An A7b9 might sound even better. That's why we call
them chord substitutions. You can use them in place of simpler
chords you already know. Here are some substitutes for A7.
The A7b9 looks like this.

Another substitute for A7 is G/A.

7. Secondary Chords
This topic is addressed in Part Five. Before going there, it might
be good to step back and see where we've been.

Let's Review
In this part, we saw the number of chords available to us
suddenly explode. We learned that even simple chords can be
played in several ways called inversions. Slash chords were
introduced to keep track of bass notes when the bass is playing
something other than the root. We used scale notes to get chords
like 2, 6, M7, sus. We used non-scale notes to get iv and iim7b5.
Chord substitutions like nines, elevens, and thirteens came along
to replace sevens when needed.

Concept #9 - Chords From Other Keys

When we left Part Four, we were just about to discuss
Secondary Chords. These are chords borrowed from other keys.
Let's explain it this way.
Have you ever visited a Water Park with pools and slides? Let's
take our Simple Map and use our imagination. First, I'm going to
change the simple map from I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi to C, Dm, Em, F,
G, and Am. These are the chords for the key of C. Second, I'm
going to make each square in the diagram a "pool" in our
imaginary Water Park. Got it?
Do you remember the rules? You may jump anywhere from I,
which in this case is C. If a chord appears at more than one place
(like Dm or G), there is a "secret tunnel" connecting them, so
being at one spot is the same as being at the other.
But this time we add a new rule. At any time you may leave the
water to come down a slide. Where are the slides? Here they
are!

Okay... we have a few things to talk about.

1. First, let's talk about the blue boxes. Some of the chord
variations now appear at the bottom of each box. For instance, C
lists the 2 chord, the 6 chord, major 7, major 9, and suspended as
possible options.
2. Three blue locations have been added. The octagon with C/G
inside indicates that this chord quite often follows Dm or F, and
then heads for G before going home to C. The box labeled F/C
and G/C shows that the right hand chord can change while the
bass note (C) stays right where it is. This technique, holding a
bass note while varying the chord above it, yields many
surprising and useful sounds. Finally, the little box labeled C/E
is often found between F and Dm. It works going either way.
3. The chords with a green background don't belong to the key
of C; they come from other keys. They are useful when we want
to "step further out." You can put a green chord almost
anywhere, but when you do, you'll probably want to follow the
arrows back toward the blue ones. Your audience will feel good
when the chords that seem "far from home" step back to more
familiar ground.
(A word about names - Some of the green chords are written as slash chords, like
Am/F#. This chord could also be written F#m7b5. In general, whenever you take a
simple minor chord and move the bass from the root down three half steps, you get a
m7b5 on the new bass note. Sometimes calling it Am/F# is easier for me.)

Just as before, your challenge is the same. See how many short
progressions you can create. Start anywhere. Then follow the
arrows. If you do these simple exercises, you'll soon gain a
greater understanding of the chords available to you, and also
how they move naturally from one to another.

Updated Information - Interactive, Playable Maps

Just so you know, we now have a program (which runs on Windows PC's) that allows
you to click on a map and hear the chord as well as see it displayed on a virtual
keyboard. This program is especially helpful for music theory students, songwriters
who have never had a chance to take music theory courses, and anyone learning to
play the piano by ear. The program is described at another site called
MusicToolsForPeople.com. If you are interested in exploring lots of chords by
clicking with a mouse, click on the image below.

Let's Review
You've reached the end of Part Five. In this section we imagined
our Simple Map as being a group of pools, each one with slides
flowing into it. These slides allow you to choose a chord outside
the key and come back smoothly to more familiar sounds. We
also added a few new ideas to the simple part of the map.
With all of these chord possibilities, you have a lot of room to
explore and practice. Spend some time learning, and your music
will show the difference.
Have fun!

~ 

 
Having made it through the first five parts of this web site, our
next challenge may seem like a step backwards. We're going to
leave the world of chords and progressions for a while and
discuss music that happens one note at a time. Welcome to the
world of scales.

Concept - Half Steps and Whole Steps

First, a definition. On a keyboard, the distance from any note to
the nearest note on the right or the left is called a half step. A
distance of two half steps is called a whole step. (On a guitar
string, every fret represents another half step.)
On a keyboard, when counting half steps and whole steps, look
at the back edge of the keys (where white notes and black notes
are both visible). If you look at only the front edge, where only
white notes are next to one another, you might not count
correctly. The distance from one white note to the next is
sometimes a half step and sometimes a whole step. It depends on
whether or not a black note is between them.
 Concept - Formula for the Major Scale
Half steps and whole steps allow us to describe a scale as a
series of jumps. The major scale follows the formula "whole,
whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half" or WWHWWWH.
Beginning on the note C and following this pattern gives us C,
D, E, F, G, A, B, C.

Notice that the words "whole" and "half" do not refer to any of
the notes: they describe the distances between them. It could be
written this way... C-w-D-w-E-h-F-w-G-w-A-w-B-h-C. Using
numbers instead of notes gives us... 1-w-2-w-3-h-4-w-5-w-6-w-
7-h-1.

Challenge - Learning the Major Scales

It's a good idea to make it your goal to learn all 12 major scales.
This will take a while, but it's well worth it. When you have a
good understanding of these 12 scales, it will be a lot easier to
talk about modal and minor scales.
Secondly, it isn't enough just to play the scales up and down -
it's important to play single-note songs. This forces you to jump
around in that scale and still land on the right notes.
So the challenge is really two challenges... one is memorizing
the scales, and the other is playing songs using the scales.

We'll Start With C Major

It's true that each of the major scales follows the formula
WWHWWWH, and if you need to you can generate them that
way, but that isn't how we memorize them. We memorize them
as "shapes" or "pictures" or "clumps of notes grouped together."
For example, the "shape picture" for C major might look like
this.

The starting note (Note 1) is C, and the piano keys needed to

play this scale are all white notes.
Look at the white circles for a moment. Can you mentally
picture the rest of the letter names? Do you "see" C, D, E, F, G,
A, B, C? What if we numbered them? Can you see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 1? Which key is number 5? The key E is what number?
Number 6 is what letter? And finally, if you were asked to play
the sequence 5-3-2-1-6-4-5, do you see which notes you would
play and in what order?
When we say the challenge is to learn all 12 major scales, that's
what we mean.
First, to be able to picture each scale...
second, to know the letter name of each note...
third, to know the number of each note...
fourth, to play sequences of notes when given the numbers.

A Moment For Perspective

If this is the first time you've seen this challenge, it may look
like a long journey. I need to be honest with you... it is a long
journey. But there is good news. First, your brain is very
powerful, and it can keep track of all this information. Second, if
we walk slowly through this (not rushing - just enjoying), and
spend some time in all the places, eventually it will become
easy, and you will be a better musician as a result.
 Let's Review
In this section we learned about whole steps and half steps. We
also learned that a scale can be described as a series of whole
and half steps. When we know the "formula" for the scale, we
can choose a starting note and generate the rest of the scale by
following the jumps indicated by the formula. (Also, the whole
and half steps are not actual notes themselves... they are the
distances between the notes.)
The major scale has the formula WWHWWWH. Beginning with
C and following the jumps, we get C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C. These
notes happen to be white notes, so the C scale picture looks like
this.

Looking at this picture, we realized we would need to know

each note as both a letter and a number, and then be able to play
number sequences, not only in the C major scale, but also in
eleven other major scales, which suddenly seemed like a big
challenge. We accepted the challenge.
 ~ 

 
Concept - Sharps and Flats
On a keyboard, moving one half step to the right (going higher
in pitch) is called "sharp", and moving one half step to the left
(going lower in pitch) is called "flat." This definition allows us
to name the black notes. Each black note has two names.
The note between C and D is either C sharp (written C#) or D flat (written Db).
The note between D and E is either D sharp (written D#) or E flat (written Eb).
The note between F and G is either F sharp (written F#) or G flat (written Gb).
The note between G and A is either G sharp (written G#) or A flat (written Ab).
The note between A and B is either A sharp (written A#) or B flat (written Bb).

Side note: By the way, there are certain times when certain white notes are also named
sharp or flat. It doesn't happen very often, but there are occasions when...

The note B might be called Cb

The note C might be called B#
The note F might be called E#
The note E might be called Fb

There are also double sharps. For example, F double sharp (written Fx) plays the note
G. Then there are double flats. Gbb plays the note F.
Now that we understand sharps and flats, let's look at another
scale.

The G Major Scale

If you begin by playing the note G and then follow the formula
for the major scale (WWHWWWH), you will get the
following... G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G.

Side note: One of the rules of naming notes in a major scale is that each letter from A
to G must be assigned as you move from note 1 up to note 7. That's why note 7 in this
scale is called F# and not Gb.

Take a good look at the G scale. Which note is number 5?

Which letter is associated with number 3? Could you play the
sequence 6, 5, 8, 3, 2, 5, 1.

Above And Below The Scale

Although some songs can be played using only notes 1 through
8, most songs go above or below the scale at some point. This
would be a good time to say again that note 8 is really note 1
starting over. We say it's note 1 moved up an octave. Also, note
1 can be thought of as note 8 for the notes coming in from the
left. So, even though we say 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8... or do, re, mi,
fa, so, la, ti, do... we understand that it really goes... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and so on.
This creates a question when writing down melodies as
numbers. When I ask you to play 1, 2, 7, do you play the 7 that's
a big jump up the keyboard, or do you play the 7 that's right next
to 1 on the left side?
In order to make this clearer for my students, I write the notes in
the octave below (the notes coming in from the left) as
underlined numbers, and the notes in the octave above with lines
through the middle. According to this system, the numbers
would look like this...

Why Do We Use Numbers?

The nice thing about numbers is that when we change to a
different major scale, though the letter names at the various
locations change, the numbers stay the same. So, if a melody is
played 3, 5, 2, 3, 1 in one major key, it will be played 3, 5, 2, 3,
1 in the other major keys as well. It's true that it will be higher or
lower in pitch, and the letter name associated with 3, or 5, or 2
will be different, but the tune will sound the same.
My suggestion is to experiment with the notes in a scale until
something you play reminds you of a song you already know.
Then see if you can figure out a couple phrases from that
particular song. Play it a few times in the key you are in, and
then write down the numbers using the system I just explained.
Then take those numbers and play them in another key of your
choice. This exercise will show you how melodies keep the
same numbers though they are played in different keys.
 One More Important Idea
There is another idea to consider, because in the long run it will
be more and more valuable to you. As you play tunes you
already know, and as you experiment writing your own
melodies, you will eventually begin to "recognize the numbers"
even when they are not written down. You will hear the notes in
your mind, and you will recognize almost by "feel" which
number comes next. You'll hear a song, and know which notes
to play. You will begin to improvise music, and make tunes up
spontaneously. It will be very freeing. Then music becomes a lot
of fun!

Let's Review
In this section we discussed sharps and flats. The symbol for
sharp is 9, and it indicates a note one half step higher in pitch (to
the right on a keyboard). The symbol for flat is similar to , and
it indicates a note one half step lower in pitch (to the left on the
keyboard). These ideas allow us to name the black notes, each of
which has two names. Named as sharps, the black notes are C#,
D#, F#, G#, and A#. Named as flats, the black notes are Db, Eb,
Gb, Ab, and Bb.
When naming the notes in a major scale, we use each of the
letters from A to G on scale notes 1 through 7. This determines
whether black notes are named as sharps or flats.
We looked at the G major scale. We now have two scale
pictures.

We also thought about the idea that a melody may go above or

below scale notes 1 through 8. To give us a way to write these
extra notes down, we introduced underlined numbers for the
octave to the left, and numbers with a line through the middle to
indicate notes in the octave to the right.

We considered the possibility of experimenting with phrases in a

given key, writing down what we played, and then playing the
same phrase in another key.
We also considered that someday we may be able to hear a tune
and know which notes to play. That will be a great day!

~ 

 
 Concept - Major Keys With Sharps
We've already introduced the key of G, which has one sharp.
Let's look at D, A, E, and B. Don't try to memorize them all at
once, but do look at them to see the patterns.

The D Major Scale

D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#, D
The sharps are at positions 3 and 7.

The A Major Scale

A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#, A

The sharps are at positions 3, 6 and 7.

The E Major Scale

E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D#, E

The sharps are at positions 2, 3, 6 and 7.
 The B Major Scale

B, C#, D#, E, F#, G#, A#, B

The sharps are at positions 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7.

Are All These Scales Used Equally?

Actually, no. Beginning keyboard players usually start out in the
key of C (no sharps or flats), because it's easier to read the notes
if you don't have to stop and think whether any of them are
sharps or flats. Then, after getting familiar with C, they move on
to keys with one sharp or one flat, then two, and so on. Even
after playing the piano for years, it's rare to find a piece written
with more than five flats (the key of Db), or more than four
sharps (the key of E). The key of B, the last one pictured above,
is very rarely used.
Guitarists tend to favor the following keys... C, G, D, A, and E.
The reason is because the "open" chords (chords where some of
the guitar strings don't have to be pressed down) work well in
these keys. Guitar players usually learn the open chords first and
the "movable" (or "barre") chords later. The movable chords
work in any key, but because of the sound of the open chords,
acoustic players still tend to favor the keys of C, G, D, A, and E.
Guitarists also have the option of using a "capo", which clamps
all the strings down at whichever fret is chosen, effectively
shortening the guitar, which means you can then play open
chords in a comfortable key, while the guitar gives off a sound
in a different key, depending on where the capo is placed.
(It grows a bit more complicated when you add brass (or woodwinds) into the picture,
because many of these instruments don't sound in the key that's written. A trumpet, for
example, when reading the note C on paper, actually sounds the note Bb. This isn't the
time to explain it, but it's a good idea to be aware of the challenge, because when you
decide to add brass players to your band, the writing of the parts will require some
extra understanding.)

Major Keys With Flats

The flat keys look like this. Just as before, don't try to learn this
information fast. This takes a while, and you will need to spend
time with each key, playing songs, writing songs, etc. But here
they are at a glance.

The F Major Scale

F, G, A, Bb, C, D, E, F
The flat is at position 4.

The Bb Major Scale

Bb, C, D, Eb, F, G, A, Bb
The flats are at positions 1 and 4.
 The Eb Major Scale

Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C, D, Eb

The flats are at positions 1, 4 and 5.

The Ab Major Scale

Ab, Bb, C, Db, Eb, F, G, Ab

The flats are at positions 1, 2, 4, and 5.

*****

The Db Major Scale

Db, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb, C, Db

The flats are at positions 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6.

The Gb Major Scale

 Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb, Db, Eb, F, Gb
The flats are at positions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
(Notice that the white note at position 4 is named Cb)

(One More Thing)

To be complete, I should tell you that three of these major scales can be written in
another way.

Db (five flats - Db, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb, C, Db)

can be rewritten as...
C# (seven sharps - C#, D#, E#, F#, G#, A#, B#, C#)
Of these two, Db is preferred. Five flats is
easier to handle than seven sharps.

Gb (six flats - Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb, Db, Eb, F, Gb)

can be rewritten as...
F# (six sharps - F#, G#, A#, B, C#, D#, E#, F#)
These two keys are seldom used.

B (five sharps - B, C#, D#, E, F#, G#, A#, B)

can be rewritten as...
Cb (seven flats - Cb, Db, Eb, Fb, Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb)
B is preferred, but not seen very often.

Let's Review
In this section we illustrated the remaining major key "shape
pictures," giving us a total of 12 major keys (and three more if
you count the ones that can be rewritten as different names.) So
in the written sense, there are 15... one key with no sharps or
flats (C)... seven sharp keys (G, D, A, E, B, F#, and C#)... and
seven flat keys (F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, and Cb).
Of these keys, some are more often used than the others. C is
used a lot, especially by beginners. On the flat side, it's common
to see music written in keys all the way up to five flats...
specifically, the keys of F, Bb, Eb, Ab, and Db. On the sharp
side, it's common to see keyboard music in G (one sharp) and D
(two sharps)... and guitars (which tend to use the sharp keys)
continue on to use A (three sharps) and E (four sharps).
We recognize that this material will take some time to learn, but
it's worth it. Even the keys that are hardly ever used are worth
exploring. Your homework this time is an extended project.
Over the next few months, explore these keys... if possible, write
a song in each of the keys you've never used before. Remember
to enjoy the process... it's fun to learn!

 

 
Suppose we take the 15 written major keys and put them in a
straight line, beginning with 7 flats on the far left, moving
toward C (no sharps or flats) and then continuing to 7 sharps on
the far right...
7b, 6b, 5b, 4b, 3b, 2b, 1b, 0, 1#, 2#, 3#, 4#, 5#, 6#, 7#

The names of the keys would be...

 Cb, Gb, Db, Ab, Eb, Bb, F, C, G, D, A, E, B, F#, C#

Then imagine we wrapped this straight line around a clock with

C at the top. (Because there are 15 keys represented on the line,
and only 12 places on the clock, there will be a little bit of an
overlap at the bottom.)
The resulting figure is called the "Circle of Fifths." In music
theory, we call the interval from C to G a fifth, because G is the
fifth note in the C major scale. D is the fifth note in the G major
scale, and so on around the circle.




 
 Learning the Circle
There will come a time, if you keep learning, playing and
writing, when you will know the circle of fifths because you will
have spent time in all the keys. But when seeing it for the first
time, it may help to have a few tricks. This is how I teach it to
young students.


 
First, there are two locations you will just have to memorize... C,
which is easy because it's zero, and F. To remember F, say this...
"Flat has one F, and F has one flat."

 
The second group is G, D, A, E, and B. These are keys with
sharps. To remember how many sharps each one has, just look
at the letter. It takes a little imagination with G, but if you are
willing to round the corners a bit, you can sort of draw a G with
just one stroke of the pencil. Like this...

Writing a D takes 2 strokes of the pencil... an A takes 3 strokes...

an E takes 4 strokes... and B... you can write the number 5 right
on top of a B without ever wandering off of the letter.
That's one way to remember that G is 1 sharp... D is 2 sharps...
A is 3 sharps... E is 4 sharps... and B is 5 sharps.
    
 
Once you get used to the sharp keys, the flats use the "add up to
seven" idea. Like this... if G is 1 in your mind, then when you
drop the symbol for flat into the picture (Gb), add enough to get
a total of 7... in this case, you would need to add 6. So Gb is 6
flats. Or more simply... "G is 1 sharp, so Gb is 6 flats."
Let's try that again with another letter... Db. You know D is 2
sharps, because it takes two strokes of the pen. Putting the flat in
means we have to add up to seven, so we're looking for a 5.
Therefore Db is 5 flats. Reducing it down, we get... "D is 2
sharps, so Db is 5 flats."
The same thing works for A, E, and B. We could say the
following:
G takes 1 stroke of the pencil... so G is 1 sharp.
Therefore Gb is 6 flats. It adds up to seven.
D takes 2 strokes of the pencil... so D is 2 sharps.
Therefore Db is 5 flats. It adds up to seven.
A takes 3 strokes of the pencil... so A is 3 sharps.
Therefore Ab is 4 flats. It adds up to seven.
E takes 4 strokes of the pencil... so E is 4 sharps.
Therefore Eb is 3 flats. It adds up to seven.
 B can have a 5 written on top of it
without ever leaving the B... so B is 5 sharps.
Therefore Bb is 2 flats. It adds up to seven.

9
 
9
Finally, the three extra keys. The rule of seven still works.
Because F is 1 flat, F# is 6 sharps.
Because C is zero
C# is 7 sharps, and Cb is 7 flats.

Something Else About The Circle

Another interesting thing about the circle is that it's possible to
write songs that use part or all of the circle as the progression.
For example, you could start with a C chord, move to F, follow
that with Bb, and keep going until you get back to C. Or you
could write a song using the progressions we explored in the
maps, and somewhere in the middle of the song use a part of the
circle... for example, you could use B - E - A - D - G - C.
On a personal note... I remember when I was studying music,
one of my teachers would assign keyboard drills that went
around the circle. An example would be to play a chord... let's
say it was a major 7 chord in root position (notes 1-3-5-7). We
would play it in both hands at the same time. So for CM7 we
would play c-e-g-b in the left hand and c-e-g-b in the right
hand... eight notes at once. Then we would play it around the
circle. CM7 (cegb) - GM7 (gbdf#) - DM7 (df#ac#) - AM7
(ac#eg#)... until we got back to CM7. If you would like the same
challenge, choose a chord, play it in both hands, and then take it
around the circle. It's a good exercise when you know some
chords and would like to get better at finding them quickly.

"The Photographic Opposites"

There are four sets of scales (D and Db, E and Eb, A and Ab, B
and Bb) that are like photographic negatives of each other. You
might learn them more easily if you learn them in pairs.
Look at D and Db for a moment. Notice the D scale has black
notes at positions 3 and 7. In the Db scale, there are white notes
at positions 3 and 7.

The same idea can be seen with E and Eb, A and Ab, B and Bb.
 Let's Review
In parts 6, 7, 8 and 9, we spent a good bit of time looking at
major scales. We've thought about the names of each note, and
the numbers associated with each scale position. We've
illustrated these scales, and then wrapped them around a circle
to create the Circle of Fifths. Your goal is to learn these scales,
play melodies using these scales, and write songs in these keys.
If you keep at it, someday each of these scales and keys will be
easy to play. Along the way, remember to enjoy the process.
Take your time, learn well, and have fun!

Ñ
 ~
Imagine for a moment that time rolled backwards and you found
yourself in a chapter in history where they had not yet
discovered the sharps and flats, and "pianos" (which wouldn't
have been around yet, but if they had been...) were only white
notes, and the only major scale available was C.
So you accepted those limitations, and wrote a few songs in the
key of C major, but then you wanted a new sound, something
different... so you looked down at your hands, and the thought
came, "What if I shifted my hands one note to the right?"
Let me pause here to correct a possible misinterpretation. In our modern world of
music, we have a concept called "transposing." By it we mean that we can take a song
and move every note up (or down) by a certain number of half steps. When we do
this, the result is a little higher (or lower), but because we shifted every note the same
amount, the song still sounds like it did before. The relative jumps from note to note
have not changed.

Now back to the "unusual piano missing the black notes"... We know that the jumps
from note to note in the C major scale follow the formula whole - whole - half - whole
- whole - whole - half. In other words, the distance from note 1 to note 2 is a wider
gap than from 3 to 4. So even though our unusual piano may look to our eyes as
though each note is evenly spaced, we know in the world of sound and frequencies it
isn't that way. Perhaps an easier way of saying it is... just because the black notes have
not yet been discovered doesn't mean they are not there. We still have to leave a space
for them in our minds, because we know they are going to come along later.

So you shifted your hands one note to the right and played one
of the songs you had written in C major, but now, because you
had shifted it, and because the whole and half step jumps are at a
different place under your hands, this new version of your song
sounded quite different.
Great! We wanted a different sound. That was the purpose of
shifting the song in the first place. So far, so good.
So you stepped back for a minute and asked, "What was it I just
did?" And then you realized that you took the original key of C
major (where we number the notes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 - with the
note C being note 1, D being note 2, and so on), and
"renumbered" it so the D is now note 1, E is note 2, etc.
Then you realized there was nothing to stop you from shifting
again. What if E was note 1, or F, or G? In fact, there are seven
different notes, any one of which could be note 1. Therefore you
could play your song in seven different places, the original (in C
major) and six other versions... by shifting the song to the right.
When this grows clear in your thinking, there's something else important to grasp. We
used the key of C major in our example, because it's easy to see that all the notes are
evenly spaced, and you can imagine shifting your hands one note to the right without
any difficulty. But stepping back into the present, we could have used any of the 12
major keys on our modern piano.

For example, the key of Db major has 5 black notes and 2 white notes. Keep those 7
notes, and remove the rest. Now 5 white notes are missing. It's not as easy this time to
play the same song while shifting (because the scale notes, being both black and
white, are not spaced evenly). Still, with practice you could probably do it. And you
could renumber the notes just like we did before... the math isn't any harder.

What this means is... any song (using only scale notes) written in any of the 12 major
keys can be played in its original location (where note 1 is the name of the key), and
can also be played six other ways, each time shifting the hands one more scale note to
the right, and renumbering the keys so that note 1 is at a new place.

This idea of shifting the song needed some names, and so the
ancient Greeks (because they were thinking about this) gave
each "shift" a name.
IONIAN
Played in the original major scale.
DORIAN
Played one scale note to the right.
x

 

PHRYGIAN
Played two scale notes to the right.
x

 

LYDIAN
Played three scale notes to the right.
x

 
 MIXOLYDIAN
Played four scale notes to the right.
x

 

AEOLIAN
Played five scale notes to the right.
x

 

LOCRIAN
Played six scale notes to the right.
x

 

  

To think this through and understand what's happening, first you
need to know the major scale pictures we looked at back in parts
6, 7, and 8. Second, you also have to know that Ionian mode is
associated with note 1 of the major scale, Dorian with 2,
Phrygian with 3, Lydian with 4, Mixolydian with 5, Aeolian
with 6, and Locrian with 7.
Knowing these two things, you can then work through an
example.
A DORIAN - We'll take A Dorian as our example. We know
that Dorian is built on note 2 of the major scale. Which major
scale has A as note 2? The answer is G. The G major scale is the
place where we will find A Dorian as one of the possible
"shifts." So far, so good.
Now, what about the scale? We remember the G major scale
starts on note G and climbs through the notes A, B, C, D, E and
then instead of playing note F, we play F#. So the G major scale
is G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G. Also, these notes are numbered in our
minds. G is 1, A is 2, and so on up to F#, which is 7.
To play A Dorian we play the same notes, but now A is 1, B is
2, all the way up to G, which is now 7. So the scale is A, B, C,
D, E, F#, G, A.
Next, which chords are available. Again, we use what we
already know about G major. The basic chords found in G major
are G, Am, Bm, C, D, and Em (and there is one more... the vii
chord, which is F# diminished. You may include this chord if
you like, but you'll probably find yourself using the first six
chords a lot and the vii chord less often.) Because we are in
Dorian, the Am chord is now the "home" chord, and the other
chords are available to use in progressions.
Some progressions would come to you right away... Am-G-Am,
or Am-Em-Am, or Am-C-D-Am... in a short time you would
discover quite a few more. These are your building blocks then
for writing songs in A Dorian.
You might wonder, "Do I need a big map for A Dorian?" The
answer is no. Remember, there are five notes missing from each
octave of the piano, so chords which might have used those
extra five notes are not available. This knocks out a lot of
possibilities. Playing just the six chords (or seven if you use the
vii chord) keeps you in the mode.
The last question is a little more involved. Suppose you are
playing an instrument, perhaps an instrument that plays just one
note at a time, and you don't want to associate A Dorian with the
G major scale, because that takes a long time to think about. In
fact, as soon as you hear the name A, you picture the A scale. So
you would rather hear the word Dorian as indicating a change to
be made to the A major scale. So somehow we've got to get to
the A Dorian scale beginning with the picture for the A major
scale.
To do this we compare the A Dorian scale (A, B, C, D, E, F#, G)
to the A major scale (A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#). Notice the
differences are in notes 3 and 7. Both are down a half step in the
Dorian version. So we could make a "rule" to memorize. We'll
use X as a variable, as in math, to stand for any note on our
modern keyboard. Here's the rule - "To play X Dorian, play the
X major scale with notes 3 and 7 down a half step."

 
This idea of memorizing rules can be applied to the other modes
as well. We'll add the rules to what we already know. As before,
X can represent any note.
IONIAN
Played in the original major scale.
 DORIAN
Played one scale note to the right.
x

 
or another way of thinking about it...
 

  

   

 
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PHRYGIAN
Played two scale notes to the right.
x

 
or another way of thinking about it...
%
 

  

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#"
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!

 



  
 

LYDIAN
Played three scale notes to the right.
x

 
or another way of thinking about it...
' 

  

   

 
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#"
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MIXOLYDIAN
Played four scale notes to the right.
x

 
or another way of thinking about it...
)*
 

  

 

 
!
 "
#"
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AEOLIAN
Played five scale notes to the right.
x

 
or another way of thinking about it...
,
 

  

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 !
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#"
,  
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!

 



  
 

LOCRIAN
Played six scale notes to the right.
x

 
or another way of thinking about it...
' 

  

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J

 ~
If you would like to experiment with modes, one of the easiest
ways is to look again at the chart we saw earlier in these lessons.
Here it is again.
Take the six chords from any line (adding chord vii if you
desire... it will be a diminished chord whose root is the seventh
note of the major scale). Then choose a chord other than I as
"home." Explore the various progressions you can create using
these six (or seven) chords. Keep in mind which chord is the
home chord and keep coming back to it to establish that sound in
your mind. When chord I is home, we are in Ionian. When chord
ii is home, we are hearing the sound of Dorian. When chord iii is
home, welcome to Phrygian.
IV as home gives us Lydian, V gives us Mixolydian, and vi
brings us the sound of Aeolian. Adding in chord vii and using it
as the home chord lands us in the world of Locrian.
Each mode has its own feel. If you do this simple experiment,
spending some time in each mode, your musical horizons will
expand.
 Let's Review
In this section we explored the concept of modes. We discussed
where they come from, what we call them, and how to think
about them.
From a chord perspective, we looked at the six (or seven) chords
needed to write songs in the various modes. We are using the
same chords as we were using in major (Ionian), but the sound
and feeling are new because a different chord is considered to be
home. Also, because the notes in the scale are sometimes a
whole step apart and sometimes a half step, shifting the scale
puts the half steps in a different place. This also produces the
new sound and feel.
From a melodic perspective (for single note instruments, or for
single note lines on chordal instruments), we recognize that a
player can memorize the major scales and think of the modes as
changes to be made to the scales. In certain musical situations,
this will be faster than trying to think of which major scale the
mode comes from. To address this, we introduced "rules", and
suggested a way to derive the rules in your mind using the major
scale pictures for D, E, F, G, A and B. Each of these pictures
shows which notes must be changed to create a certain modal
scale.
We then considered the challenge of spending some time in each
mode, exploring how the various home chords affect the feel of
the progressions. Creating several progressions in each mode
will help expand your songwriting resources.

Minor Keys - I
One of the first questions people ask, after seeing the maps for
major keys, is... "What about minor keys?"
To explore the world of minor keys, let's adopt the following
strategy. We'll use "concepts" and "approaches." The "concepts"
are ideas to consider until they become part of the way you
think. The "approaches" are assignments or experiments you can
do to gain skills working with minor keys.
~


 9
The first concept to consider is this... Not all songs that sound
minor are really "Minor." In other words, you can create music
with that minor sound, but it may not be coming from the place
we call "Minor," so let's talk about that first.
Music sounds minor when the "home chord" is a minor chord. If
you play a song, and a minor chord seems to be the center
around which everything is happening, people will say, "That
sounds like minor."
If you spent some time reading through the previous section on
modes, you will remember there are three modes which have a
minor chord as the home chord. The Dorian mode, the Phrygian
mode, and the Aeolian mode. Let's review.



  
~

If we take any major scale, number the individual notes 1
through 7, and number the chords built on those notes as I, ii, iii,
IV, V, vi, and vii (where I, IV, and V are major chords... ii, iii,
and vi are minor chords... and vii is a diminished chord)... we
will be playing in the Ionian mode, or major.
If we keep these same notes and chords as a kind of family
(related to one another, and meant to be played together), but
think of note 2 as the starting point, and chord ii as the home
chord, creating a song that keeps coming back to ii, we will be
playing in the Dorian mode. If we keep writing songs in this
mode, we will eventually get so familiar with it that we will no
longer think of the home chord as being chord ii in some major
scale. Instead we will begin to see it as chord i in this interesting
scale that has a different sound. Also, we will no longer see the
root note as note 2 of some other scale - we'll see it as note 1 of
this new scale... the Dorian scale.
But regardless of how we label it or think about it, the song we
play will sound to the casual listener as though we are playing in
a minor-sounding key. It's not really minor, of course. It's
Dorian.
The same line of reasoning can be used for the Phrygian mode,
except that the home note is note 3 and the home chord is chord
iii. Songs written in the Phrygian mode will have a minor feel to
them also, because the home chord is a minor chord.
 a
  


~

The Aeolian mode is built on note 6 of a major scale. This is
where the "Minor Keys" discussion begins to get interesting.
~


 9
Our second concept is this: What we call minor develops out of
the Aeolian mode. In fact, the Aeolian mode is sometimes called
"Natural Minor." Take any major scale... find note 6... and
renumber everything so that note 6 is called 1. This new scale
will be numbered 1 through 7, but the jumps between notes will
follow the formula "whole - half - whole - whole - half - whole -
whole" or W-H-W-W-H-W-W.
To make it easier to see, let's choose C major, find note 6 (which
is A), call that 1, and then play the Aeolian mode. The notes are
a, b, c, d, e, f, g, a. This is an interesting mode, and you can
write songs in it using the same chords you were using in the
key of C major... C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, and Bdim... but the
home chord is now Am. Start with Am, end with Am, keep
coming back to Am, and you will have established a minor
chord in the listener's mind.
Now take another look at the chords we're using, particularly the
"five chord."
The one chord is Am.
The two chord is Bdim.
The three chord is C.
The four chord is Dm.
The five chord is Em.
The six chord is F.
The seven chord is G.
~


 9
Notice that the five chord is minor. Many years ago, musicians
working with the Aeolian mode thought about it and decided it
would be nice if the five chord was major instead of minor. This
would allow the progression V to i to go from major to minor.
They liked this sound a lot, but in order to make the five chord
major, they had to change one note in the Aeolian scale... note
seven. So they sharped note seven (they shifted it one half-step
to the right).
In our example using A Aeolian, instead of playing the scale a,
b, c, d, e, f, g, a, we would play a, b, c, d, e, f, g#, a. This creates
a rather unusual jump in the scale between notes 6 and 7, but it
did accomplish the primary goal of getting a major chord as the
five chord. They called this new scale "harmonic minor."
So that brings us to our third concept: Harmonic minor is the
Aeolian mode with note 7 raised a half-step, allowing the five
chord to be a major chord.

 

Let's go through the process again. Start with any major scale...
play those seven notes... then play the same seven notes
beginning on note 6... renumber the notes so note 6 is now
called 1... this new scale is the Aeolian mode or natural minor...
now play the Aeolian mode with note 7 raised a half-step.
Let's do an example... we'll start with the F major scale... f, g, a,
bflat, c, d, e, f... find note 6... it's the d... play it again starting
with d... d, e, f, g, a, bflat, c, d... So far so good - that's D Aeolian
or D natural minor. To get D harmonic minor, we raise note 7 a
half-step... which gives us d, e, f, g, a, bflat, c#, d.
Again, notice the unusual jump from bflat to c#. It kind of grabs
your attention. Well, it grabbed everyone's attention a long time
ago too, and they found they didn't always like that big jump
from note 6 to note 7. One interesting way to smooth it out is to
start with the harmonic minor scale... then "bump" note 6 a little
higher when going up the scale, and "pull" note 7 when coming
down. In other words, we smooth out the big jump using two
different adjustments... one adjustment when playing up the
scale, and a different adjustment when coming back down. The
result is... notes 6 and 7 are just like the major scale when going
up, and just like the natural minor scale (or Aeolian) when going
down.
This smoother scale is called "melodic minor," which brings us
to our fourth concept...
~


 9
Melodic minor is harmonic minor with note 6 sharped when
playing up the scale (or natural minor with both notes 6 and 7
sharped when playing up the scale), and natural minor coming
back down.



 
It's a little easier if you think of it this way. (This is simpler than
finding note 6, renumbering everything and then raising note 7 a
half-step to get harmonic minor.)
First, learn the major scales.
Second, take any major scale (keeping its letter name in your
mind), and flat notes 3 and 6. This automatically puts you into
"harmonic minor" (with the same letter name.) For example, C
major becomes C harmonic minor when you flat notes 3 and 6.
Third, leave the flat 3 there, and watch carefully notes 6 and 7. If
you keep the flat 6 and also flat note 7 all the time, you are in
"natural minor" or Aeolian. After playing the Aeolian scale a
couple times to get it in your head, play it again but this time
raise notes 6 and 7 each a half step when going up the scale,
lowering them back to flat 6 and flat 7 when coming down. This
is "melodic minor."
~

 9
Your first assignment: take well-known tunes in major keys...
play just the melody, one note at a time... but flat notes 3 and 6.
Listen carefully to this new sound. Notice especially the jump
between notes 6 and 7. Remember that you can make this jump
smoother by "bumping up" note 6 when playing up the scale and
"pulling down" note 7 when playing down the scale.
 Let's Review
In this section we saw how minor keys grow out of the Aeolian
mode.
We did have to make an adjustment however. The Aeolian mode
(or natural minor) sounds minor and feels minor, but it doesn't
have that nice V to i sound, because the five chord in Aeolian is
minor. We can get the V to i sound by raising note 7 a half-step.
This gives us a major chord for chord five. It also gives us a
wide jump between notes 6 and 7 of the scale.
Sometimes we like this jump, but sometimes we would rather
close this gap to make musical lines play more smoothly.
Raising note 6 in passages going up, and lowering note 7 in
passages coming down gives us melodic minor.
Because that takes a while to think through, we outlined an
easier way. Starting with any major scale, we can get the
harmonic minor scale (with the same letter name) by flatting
notes 3 and 6. If we flat note 7 all the time, we have Aeolian or
natural minor. If we look carefully at the Aeolian scale, then
raise notes 6 and 7 when going up, leaving the Aeolian scale
alone when going down, we get melodic minor.
 Minor Keys - II
Having discussed the minor scales, let's talk about which chords
are available when writing songs in minor keys.
~


 9!
The place to begin is i - iv - V. When you stop to think about it,
this is where most songwriters begin when writing in major
keys, with the three chords... I, IV, and V. Many songs have
been written using these three chords. So when we begin to
explore minor keys for the first time, it makes sense to start
there... with i, iv, and V.
The i chord is minor. The iv chord is minor. But the V chord is
major. This is easy if you already know your major scales. Let's
take an example... the key of D. Because we've written songs in
D major (where D, G, and A are the I, IV and V chords), we
simply shift our thinking a little, change the D major chord to D
minor, change the G major chord to G minor, and keep the A
major chord just like it is. Then playing the Dm chord as the
"home chord," we begin creating phrases that include Gm and
A. Some of these simple phrases would be...
Dm - A - Dm
Dm - Gm - Dm
Dm - Gm - A - Dm
Dm - Gm - Dm - A - Dm
Gm - Dm - Gm - A - Dm
(Also, the A chord may be played as A7 when the Dm chord follows... turning the
dominant into a dominant 7 is common when the next chord is the "tonic," or i chord.)
 ~

 9
At this point, especially if minor keys are somewhat new to you,
I would encourage you to write simple songs, or at least several
musical phrases using these three chords... i, iv, and V. Hearing
this sound clearly in your mind is an important first step.
~


 9"
After i, iv, and V become familiar, the next question is... What
about the chords built on notes 2, 3, 6, and 7? Here's where we
have a little bit of a departure from the way it works in major
keys. In major keys, if the bass note is note 2, there's a good
probability the chord is chord ii. The same can be said for notes
3 and 6. If the bass note is note 3 (or 6), the chord is quite often
chord iii (or vi). It's not always true, but more often than not it
is. (And when you are first beginning, it's a good place to start.)
But in minor, it's a little different story. So we'll need to talk
about each bass note. For the following examples, we will use
the key of C minor. Remember, the C harmonic minor scale is...
C, D, Eb, F, G, Ab, B, C.
When the bass note is note 1 (C), the most common chord is
Cm.
Other possibilities:
- the iv chord with its fifth in the bass (Fm/C)
- the VI chord with its third in the bass (Ab/C)
When the bass note is note 2 (D), the scale suggests the chord D
dim, made up of the three notes D, F, and Ab. However, when
you begin writing and playing songs in minor keys, this chord is
not necessarily the most common when the bass note is on note
2.
Other possibilities:
- the vii dim chord with its third in the bass (Bdim/D)
- the V7 chord with its fifth in the bass (G7/D)
When the bass note is note 3 (Eb), the scale suggests the Eb aug
chord, made up of the three notes Eb, G and B. This chord is one
possibility, but probably more common is the chord Cm/Eb,
using the tree notes Eb, G, and C.
When the bass note is note 4 (F), the most common chord is Fm.
Other possibilities:
- the V7 chord with its seventh in the bass (G7/F)
When the bass note is note 5 (G), the most common chord is G
or G7.
Other possibilities:
- the i chord with its fifth in the bass (Cm/G). This chord is quite
often used to set up the progression V - i... (Cm/G - G - Cm).
When the bass note is note 6 (Ab), the VI chord (Ab) is a good
option. Another good choice is the iv chord with its third in the
bass (Fm/Ab).
When the bass note is note 7 (B), the vii dim7 chord (Bdim7) is
a good choice. So is the V chord with its third in the bass (G/B).
(The main idea here is this: in major keys there's a strong tendency to allow the bass
note to be the root of the chord (especially when first learning to write songs). But in
minor keys, even when you are beginning, certain bass notes tend not to be the root.
When the bass note is 2, 3, 6, or 7, quite often that bass note is the third of the chord.
Knowing this right from the beginning will help you as you explore progressions in
minor keys.)

~


 9#
Each minor key is related to one of the major keys, or to put it
another way, each major key has a relative minor key. The
names of the two keys, the major key and its relative minor, are
always three half steps apart. For example, C major has a
relative minor, A minor. Notice that the note A is three half
steps down from the note C. Similarly, D major has a relative
minor, B minor. The note B is three half steps down from the
note D.
These two keys, the major key you've chosen and its relative
minor, share the same "key signature." The key signature is the
number of sharps or flats in that particular major scale, and it is
written on the staff following the clef sign at the beginning of
each line of music. For example, the F major scale has one flat
in its key signature. So the Dm scale (the note D is three half
steps below the note F) also has one flat in its key signature. In
the same way, G major and Em share the same key signature
(one sharp).
There are two things to notice about this. First, when you look at a piece of written
music, you won't know which key the song is in. It might be major, or it might be in
the relative minor (or it could also be in one of the modes, but for now we'll limit this
discussion to major and minor.) We have to look at the notes and chords to tell
whether it's major or minor. Secondly, if the piece is written in minor, there will very
likely be a number of "accidentals" (notes with a sharp, flat or natural sign in front of
them.) This is because the minor scale that uses the same key signature is what we
called "natural minor," and harmonic minor (the minor scale that allows the V chord
to be major) requires that we raise note 7 a half step. This raised note 7 has to be
written into the music as it happens. For example, if you see one flat in the key
signature, the song may be in F major, or it may be in Dm. But if it is in Dm, there's a
good chance you'll see a number of C# notes in the score, because C# is the raised
seven note which gives us the A major chord as the V chord.

Let's list the major keys and their relative minor keys.
C major (no sharps or flats) is related to A minor.
G major (1 sharp) is related to E minor.
D major (2 sharps) is related to B minor.
A major (3 sharps) is related to F# minor.
E major (4 sharps) is related to C# minor.
B major (5 sharps) is related to G# minor.
Gb major (6 flats) is related to Eb minor.
Db major (5 flats) is related to Bb minor.
Ab major (4 flats) is related to F minor.
Eb major (3 flats) is related to C minor.
Bb major (2 flats) is related to G minor.
F major (1 flat) is related to D minor.
The other possibilities, though rarely seen, would be...
F# major (6 sharps) is related to D# minor.
C# major (7 sharps) is related to A# minor.
Cb major (7 flats) is related to Ab minor.

This discussion of major keys and their relative minor leads us

to a very important concept when writing music in minor keys.
~


 9$
This is the "Switch-Over" concept. That's not its real name, but
we'll call it that for the moment. The "Switch-Over" concept is
this... if you are writing or playing in a minor key, there is a
strong pull to switch over at some point to the relative major
key. It's almost like driving a car on a highway and switching
lanes. Then a little later, you might switch back to the minor key
where you started. Once you get used to this, it happens quite
easily.
You might ask... if this happens in minor keys, does it also
happen when writing in major keys? Do we switch over to the
relative minor and back? The answer is... you could if you
wanted to, but it doesn't seem to happen nearly as often. For
some reason, writing in minor lends itself to jumping across to
the relative major and then back.
In my own mind (this is a personal explanation... other teachers might not say it this
way), I compare it to the concept of gravity. Earth has a strong gravitational pull, and
anything spinning around the earth, like the moon or a satellite, has a predictable
orbit. But what if you went to a place where gravity wasn't so strong, and where more
than one planet was involved? You might be sort of loosely pulled in the direction of
one planet, and then when another one came near, you might orbit that one instead. To
me, minor keys have the feeling of "a little less gravity," or to put it another way, a
little more freedom to escape and land in a different key center.

  %&

 a'

It's very simple once you catch it. It works like this. These two
keys, the minor key and its relative major, share the same scale
notes (except for the raised 7 note in harmonic minor), which
means they share some of the same chords. Let's take the key of
A minor as an example. In the progression Am - Dm - Am (i - iv
- i), we played Dm as the iv chord. But Dm is the ii chord in C
major, and we already know from writing songs in C major that
Dm - G - C is a nice smooth progression. Because we've already
played this so many times before, and because A minor is such a
close relative to C major, you might someday, while
experimenting in the key of A minor, play Am - Dm - G - C. In
other words, you would have started the progression in A minor,
but when you hit the Dm chord, you switched over to a
progression you already know from the key of C major. By the
time you hit the C chord, you realize you've "changed lanes."
What really happened was you played a chord that could be
"either or"... it would be one thing in the key of A minor... it's
something else in the key of C major.
In music theory, we call switching from one key center to another "Modulation." One
of the ways of "modulating" is to find a chord that the two keys share. You approach
the chord from one key, and leave the chord in the other key.

There are other chords that work also. The Am chord is chord i,
but it's also vi in C major. Then there's the F chord. It's chord VI
in A harmonic minor, but it's also IV in C major. With so many
options, it's easy to step back and forth.
Here are some more to try.
Am - Dm - Am - G - C
Am - E - Am - Dm - Am/E - FM7 - G - C
Dm - Am - Dm - E - F - Dm - G - C
Getting back to the key of A minor is also easy, especially if you
use an E chord, or an E7 chord. The E chord has the note G# in
it, which isn't part of the C major scale, so it tells the listener
right away that something is happening. When you introduce the
E chord or one of its variations (E7 or E7/B or E7sus4 followed
by E7, etc.), everyone can hear A minor coming back. You can
also get back to A minor using the shared chords... i.e., Dm and
F.
a

 ~


It means if you would like to write a song in a minor key, you
may write it using just the chords we normally associate with
harmonic minor, or you may widen your view a little, and step
right off the map, landing in another key, the relative major.
This adds a lot of possibilities.
&
~
  

And one more thing... not only can a minor key jump to it's
relative major; it can also jump to its "parallel major." Jumping
to the parallel major is easy. If you are playing in A minor, start
playing in A major. If you are playing in C minor, start playing
in C major. (If the song you are writing benefits from the sound
of the parallel major, you can modulate instantly at any time,
jumping back to minor just as easily when you are ready to
come back.)

Let's Review
In this section we discussed four different ideas.
First, when exploring minor keys, begin with i, iv, and V. This is
the sound you will want to hear clearly before going any deeper.
Second, we allowed the bass note to play each note in the
harmonic minor scale, and asked which chords would likely be
played for each of these bass notes. We noticed that when the
bass note is note 2, 3, 6, or 7, one of the common chord options
was whichever chord has that bass note as its third.
Third, we talked about modulating (or "switching over") from a
minor key to its relative major and then back. We saw that this
happens quite easily because a minor key and it's relative major
share so many of the same notes and chords.
Fourth, we mentioned that a minor key is also quite close to its
parallel major, so jumping to the parallel major and back is an
option.
If you are new to minor keys, I hope this will give you a place to
begin. If you have played in minor keys before, but haven't
thought about very much, maybe this will give you an outline in
your mind, sort of an overview of the landscape.